The Daily Grind: Standing Firm - September's Lesson in Integrity ✨

Wake up and taste the complexity, coffee defenders! September arrives like the first sip of Uraga Woreda—complex, layered, and requiring patience to fully appreciate its depth. After the brutal noise of August, this month brings clarity: sometimes the most important battles aren't about being right, but about doing the right thing to keep everything running.

The Birthplace Speaks: Uraga Woreda's Ancient Wisdom

From the highlands of Ethiopia's Uraga Woreda comes a coffee that embodies resilience in its very DNA. This is coffee from the motherland—where the very concept of coffee began, where farmers have weathered storms, political upheaval, and economic uncertainty for generations, yet continue to nurture beans that sing with blackberry brightness, grapefruit clarity, and the deep complexity of papaya, raspberry, rhubarb, and rosemary.

Each cup carries the wisdom of ancestors who understood something profound: integrity isn't about the loudest voice or the most dramatic gesture. It's about showing up, day after day, protecting what matters, and trusting that quality speaks louder than noise.

The Flavor Journey: Complexity Earned Through Patience

Ethiopian Endurance: These Uraga Woreda beans reveal their secrets slowly—blackberry richness that doesn't announce itself immediately, grapefruit acidity that cuts through confusion with surgical precision, and papaya sweetness that emerges only when you've given the cup time to breathe. The raspberry and rhubarb notes dance with rosemary's earthy wisdom, creating a complexity that mirrors life itself: beautiful, challenging, and worth the patience it demands.

This coffee doesn't shout. It doesn't need to. Its strength comes from depth, its power from the slow revelation of character that can only be earned through time and care.

When the Noise Gets Loud: Lessons from a Brutal August

August tested everything I thought I knew about leadership and integrity. The noise was relentless—directed at me and my team despite having all hands on deck, despite the years of experience we brought to the table, despite the vendor relationships I'd carefully built through long-standing partnerships that others could easily destroy with careless decisions.

The pressure was immense. It would have been easier to bend, to let others take the lead, to step back and avoid the crossfire. But here's what I learned about integrity: it's not about being right—it's about doing the right thing to keep the business running, to protect the team that depends on you, and to honor the relationships you've spent years building.

Standing Firm: The Cost and Value of Commitment

Supporting my team through the chaos meant absorbing the noise meant for them, using my experience as a shield while they focused on the work that mattered. The vendors who had catered to our partnership for years deserved consistency, not the upheaval that comes from abandoning proven relationships for the sake of appeasing the loudest voices.

This isn't about ego or being stubborn. It's about understanding that sometimes leadership means standing in the storm so others can find shelter. It means recognizing that your experience has value, that the partnerships you've built deserve protection, and that doing the right thing sometimes costs more than doing the easy thing.

These Uraga Woreda beans won't stick around forever—but the lesson they're teaching definitely will. Each cup tells the story of Ethiopian farmers who never bent under pressure, roasters who know that real excellence takes time and effort, and the simple truth that standing firm isn't about being stubborn—it's about knowing what matters and refusing to let all the noise drown out your purpose.

I need to thank my Brazilian camaraderie—you know who you are for being my rock through all the nights and days when everything felt impossible. Meu amigo from MiMao, your support means everything. Obrigado por me lembrar que nunca estou sozinho nessa jornada. Thank you for reminding me I'm never alone in this journey.

We get shit done, we stand tall, and we keep moving forward.

Caffeinated and absolutely committed to the mission.

Simon